Identifying Protective Genes Against Cognitive Sequelae Following West Nile Mediated Encephalitis

From the Washington University Office of Undergraduate Research Digest (WUURD), Vol. 12, 05-01-2017. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Lindsey Paunovich, Editor; Helen Human, Programs Manager and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences Mentor: Robyn Klie

Identifying a Neurotoxic Mechanism Present in West Nile Neuroinvasive Disease

From the Washington University Senior Honors Thesis Abstracts (WUSHTA), Spring 2018. Published by the Office of Undergraduate Research. Joy Zalis Kiefer, Director of Undergraduate Research and Associate Dean in the College of Arts & Sciences; Lindsey Paunovich, Editor; Helen Human, Programs Manager and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences Mentor: Robyn S. Klein and Charise Garbe

A Phenomenological Examination of Virtual Game Developers\u27 Experiences Using Jacob\u27s Ladder Pre-Production Design Tactic

Edutainment refers to curriculum and instruction designed with a clear educational purpose, including multi-faceted virtual learning game design. Tools such as the Jacob\u27s Ladder pre-production design tactic have been developed to ensure that voices of both engineers and educators are heard. However, it is unclear how development team members experience and perceive their collaborative work while designing a virtual game using such tactics. This phenomenological study examined the experiences of agile software team members using Jacob\u27s Ladder pre-production design as an interdisciplinary collaboration tool while designing a virtual learning game. Seven design team members (3 educators and 4 engineers) participated in semi-structured interviews and transcripts were analyzed via an inductive coding process that led to the development of key themes. Findings indicated that using Jacob\u27s Ladder design tactic influenced the experience of the team by keeping the team focused on common goals and learner needs, organizing the team work, supporting interdisciplinary collaboration, and promoting shared understandings of the software platform limitations. Individuals played various roles, appreciated diverse views, recognized prior experience and idea sharing, and felt the design tactic supported flexibility for interdisciplinary collaboration. By linking integration strategies to interdisciplinary collaboration, findings from this study may be used by organizational leaders to consider best practices in team building for virtual learning game design, which will further support the development of effective games and growth of the edutainment industry

Evolution of Alu Elements in the Saimiri and Papio Lineages of Primates

Alu elements are approximately 300 base pair (bp) primate specific non- autonomous retrotransposons. Alu elements, a short interspersed element (SINE), account for high copy numbers in all primate genomes. Numerous Alu element subfamilies have undergone varying degrees of activity and amplification within primates. Identification of these subfamilies has proved to be very informative in elucidating phylogenies and as phylogenomic markers. Squirrel monkeys, genus Saimiri, are one of the most well-known neotropical primates and the second most commonly used laboratory monkey. Squirrel monkey species diverged approximately 1.5 million years ago and are native to South America. Despite being well-known, there are many questions still unanswered regarding the evolutionary dynamics of the squirrel monkey and its genome. We computationally examined Saimiri lineage specific Alu element insertions. We determined the Alu subfamily amplification within the lineage is consistent with both the modified master gene model (a subfamily will accumulate copies for a certain time period and then become inactive) and with the stealth model (subfamilies with low retrotranspositional activity over extended periods of time with occasional short lived hyperactive copies) of Alu evolution. Forty-six new lineage specific subfamilies and 51 possible species indicative markers were reported within Saimiri lineage of New World Monkeys. Baboons, genus Papio, are Old World Monkeys (OWMs) that reside in distinct regions but with overlapping hybrid zones. There are six species of baboons that are part of most recent studies, including: yellow baboon (P. cynocephalus), olive baboon (P. anubis), hamadryas baboon (P. hamadryas), guinea baboon (P. papio), chacma baboon (P. ursinus), and the kinda baboon (P. kindae). Recent studies have explored Alu element dynamics within baboons and determined there is extensive amplification within the lineage. We computationally examined the genome of the olive baboon (P. anubis) and identified 129 active Alu subfamilies in Papio baboons, with 127 of these subfamilies being baboon specific

Response article to commentary on our article titled ‘Volvulus of the gastrointestinal tract’

Peer reviewe

STEM Inqueery: How Communion and Femininity Affects LGBTQ Individuals’ Belonging in STEM that Affects Their Motivation to Pursue STEM

Despite the growth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in the United States, only 60% of STEM majors complete their degrees. Although STEM is stereotyped as a cis (same gender as birth), straight male, agentic (self-focused), and not communal (other-oriented) field, the inclusion of communion in STEM boosts STEM motivation. Since LGBTQ students highly value communion and LGB(T)Q students are less likely than non-LGB(T)Q students to stay in STEM, we explored whether LGBTQ individuals’ desire for communal opportunities or feminine gender expression shapes their belonging or expectations for success in STEM which in turn affects their (future) motivation to pursue STEM. We collected data from 204 participants (125 non-LGBTQ women, 79 LGBTQ individuals) at University of North Florida. For LGBTQ individuals, their feminine gender expression negatively affected their belonging in STEM, which positively affected their (future) motivation to pursue STEM. While for non-LGBTQ women and LGBTQ individuals, perceived communal opportunities within STEM positively affected expectations for success in STEM, and subsequently positively affected their (future) motivation to pursue STEM. In conclusion, feminine expression was only a factor for LGBTQ individuals, not non-LGBTQ women, and only with the belonging path; communal opportunities was only predictive for the expectations for success path. We are going to explore this model in our second study. Audio Playe

People in Jail and Prison in Spring 2021

Vera Institute of Justice (Vera) researchers collected data on the number of people in local jails and state and federal prisons throughout 2020 and into spring 2021. Vera researchers estimated the incarcerated population using a sample of approximately 1,600 jail jurisdictions, 50 states, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The data shows that a little more than a year since the first calls to release incarcerated people during the COVID-19 pandemic, decarceration efforts appear to have stalled—even as the pandemic still rages and the country continues to lead the world in incarceration. The relative stasis in incarceration since late 2020 is the result of a refilling of many jails and a small, further decrease in prison populations

Connecting homes and schools: A Photo Elicitation Study

Researchers have highlighted the importance of school readiness for low-income, African-American children who are disproportionately at risk for being unready for the transition to kindergarten. School readiness entails key reading, writing, and language skills that are associated with school success. However, preschools, elementary schools, and families frequently understand school readiness differently. Research further documents that children perform better in school when there is consistency in beliefs and practices between families and schools. Quality learning opportunities in the home and school promote school readiness and children fare better in kindergarten when collaborations are forged between the home and the school during the preschool process. A critical piece of this collaboration is understanding low-income, African-American parents’ views of school readiness competencies and abilities and related parenting practices. To address this gap in the field, we used a resilience framework and photo elicitation interviews with low-income, African-American mothers of preschoolers. Mothers documented the various home-based activities they engaged in to promote their children’s school readiness. Home-based activities focused on multiple literacy skills and included multiple family members. These findings suggest the ways that schools can partner with families that are culturally-sensitive and enhance the early educational success of children.Ope

An autistic-like profile of attention and perception in synaesthesia

Synaesthesia and autism are two neurodevelopmental conditions that have been shown to co-occur more than expected by chance. The studies reported here test the hypothesis that increased sensory sensitivity and enhanced attention-to-detail are core cognitive features that are shared between them. In Study 1, we administer self-report measures of sensory sensitivity and autistic traits (the Autism Spectrum Quotient, AQ) to a large heterogeneous sample of synaesthetes. Both sensory sensitivity and the attention-to-detail subscale of the AQ show a “dose-like” relationship with synaesthesia: namely, more kinds of synaesthesia is related to a greater shift up the autistic spectrum. Study 2 uses two objective measures of visual perception/attention linked to autistic traits: change blindness and detection of local embedded figures. Both measures are shown here to be sensitive to the attention-to-detail subscale of the AQ, and synaesthetes outperformed controls on both tasks. Synaesthetes appear to occupy a specific cognitive niche of having autistic-like traits linked to enhanced perception and attention. Whilst these typically occur in the absence of the traditional impairments that define autism, they may carry the cost of increased vulnerability to clinical levels of autism (Odds Ratio=2.07)